The Farm Report

-by Thomas Richards

Well, the conversion from the minors to the majors appears to be quite challenging. Adam Lind's .282 average leads all rookies this season, closely followed by Cleveland's Ryan Garko. Troy Tulowitzki, Dustin Pedroia, Chris Young, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and even Alex Gordon are all hitting well below .200. For the pitchers, Mike Pelfrey and Glen Perkins both have ERA's over 5. So who is playing well? Let's take a look around the league's minor league squads.

#1: Guitar Face

Billy Butler has lived up to all of the expectations of being a #3 overall pick. Butler is hitting .344 with 5 HRs and 20 RBIs. Jay Bruce chips in with a .333 average, but has struck out 18 times already in just 63 ABs. Jose Tabata has similar numbers hitting .300 with 17 strike outs in 60 ABs. Then Fernando Martinez has struggled hitting just .231 and only 1 HR.

Nick Adenhart has been phenominal going 3-0 in 3 starts with a 0.49 ERA and 16 K's. Eric Hurley and Philip Humber are both 2-1 with ERA's under 3. Then Brandon Erbe does not have a decision in 3 starts but has an ERA of 3.78.

This team was well scouted and is very well balanced between hitting and pitching. Hopefully the active roster can step it up, otherwise some of these studs might have to be unloaded.

#2: The Champ is Here

Hunter Pence is the featured stick on this roster. Pence is hitting .324 with 3 HR's and 16 RBI's. Brian Barton is only hitting .279, but has a .426 OBP. Then Ryan Sweeney has 2 HR's and a respectable .343 OBP.

Craig Hansen has 2 saves already, along with a 1.08 ERA. Troy Patton has tossed well going 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA and a mere 0.89 WHIP. Matt Harrison has 2 wins and Scott Elbert carries a 3.86 ERA with 24 K's in 3 starts.

Danks and Perkins have already made it to the big leagues, and Pence should find his way there soon. All of this leaves some room to add more hitters. The Champ has found some good players to help create an early impact to his 2007 season.

#3: Uncle Teddy and the Azzkickers

Eva Longoria looked excellent last week, and Evan hasn't looked so bad either. Longoria is hitting .310 with 3 HR's and 14 RBI's. Cameron Maybin is looking just as good hitting .308 with 4 HRs and an OBP of .463. Justin Upton has 6 SBs and Brandon Wood has an OBP of .373 despite striking out 23 times in 71 ABs. Carlos Gonzalez is in a bit of a slump hitting just .210.

Tim Lincecum has been the best pitcher in the minors going 2-0 and has not yet allowed a run. Matt Wilhite has been solid out of the bullpen, owning an ERA of 1.8 in 7 appearances. Yovanni Gollardo is 2-1 with an ERA of 2.65 and a K/9 Innings of 13.76.

One would think that this team couldn't get any younger, but almost all of these kids are expected to see time in the Major Leagues by the end of the 2007 season. Perhaps some of these prospects should be moved for some veteran role players. Interested in Moises Alou?

#4: Too Drunk to Function

Akinori Iwamura was recently called up due to his terrific start. Iwamura is hitting .321 and has an OBP of .455. Adam Jones is hitting .319 and Joe Koshanski is hitting .294.

This team is ranked #4 on a stats per player basis. The owner was obviously had a different strategy when forming this team and perhaps was a little too drunk to function. It is a bit early, but perhaps it is time to trade those big names for young studs. Time to build for next year?

#5: Meaty Urologists

Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting .455, has an OBP of .500 and has 4 stolen bases already. Felix Pie was hitting .444 before being called up, and then Ryan Braun has arguably been the best hitter in AAA. Braun is hitting .295 with 6 HR's in just 61 AB's. Reid Brignac is living up to expectations hitting .327 with 2 HR's and 5 SB's. But George Kottaras, Andrew McCutchen, and Trevor Crowe are all struggling, hitting .237, .163, and .140 respectively.

The Urologists certainly have some attractive bats, but have 0 pitchers. An interesting strategy considering pitchers make up half the stats. Although, 'the expert' seems to have everything else figured out despite our doubts.

#6: Thunder Guts

Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been terrific hitting .373, with 4 HR's and an OBP of .480. Then Andy Laroche is hitting a modest .274 with 3 HR's, and 8 RBI's.

The lone arm in Thunder's staff is Kevin Slowey. Slowey is 2-0 without allowing a run in 11 innings. He has 0 walks, 11 K's, and a WHIP of 0.51.

Thunder Guts has the same problem that Too Drunk has, in that there is just a lack of bodies down there. The bodies that are there are performing quite well however, we'll see if it is enough in years to come.

#7: Eastside Taintstains

Travis Snider has been impressive, hitting .327 with 4 Triples, a HR and 10 RBI's. Then Ching-Lung Hu is hitting .354. Eric Patterson and Eric Campbell are struggling, hitting .256 and .179 with just one HR between them.

Michael Bowden has tossed well so far going 1-0 in 4 starts with just a 1.71 ERA. Sean Gallagher has almost been as impressive, going 2-1 with and ERA of 3.12. Adam Miller, the team's ace, has gone 2-0 in 3 starts but has an ERA of 4.00 and a WHIP of 1.5. Franklin Morales and Edinson Volquez round out the staff with ERA's over 4 and 0 wins between them.

Any AAA squad that is almost completely full of Cubs and Red Sox is bound to struggle. This team is no different. Minus a few decent kids, this squad does not seem to have a promising future.

#8: Three Shots in March

Ian Stewart has been this squad's best hitter, hitting .333 with one HR. Then James Loney has temporarily lost that .380 stroke and is hitting just .265 but still has 14 RBI's. Colby Rasmus and Denard Span are both hitting .222 and have and have each scored 4 runs.

Jaime Garcia has thrown quite well going 2-1 in 3 starts with a 2.81 ERA. Andrew Miller has not received any run support and is 1-2 with just a 3.04 ERA. Chris Volstad is 1-1 in 4 starts with an ERA of 3.8 and Donald Veal has been atrocious going 0-3 with an ERA of 9.

This squad has a very nice balance, and has some big names but is struggling at the moment. Look for this squad to climb up the rankings as the season goes along.

#9: The Death Ro

Carlos Gomez is hitting a respectable .292 and Brent Clevlan is struggling at .210. Neither one has a HR, but each have 7 RBI's.

Jeff Samardzija does not have a decision with an ERA of 2.40. Wade Davis also does not have a decision and carries an ERA of 3.52. Kei Igawa, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Taylor Buchholtz, and Mike Pelfrey have all made it to the big leagues, but only Matsuzaka has shown any signs of brilliance. Pelfrey, Buchholtz and Igawa have not been impressive, all carrying ERA's over 5, but Matsuzaka has lived up to the hype, but has failed to receive run support. Oh, I almost forgot, Mark Prior is scheduled for shoulder surgery......again, so once again he has become a waste of space on Mr. Rohour's roster.

With 5 players already in the pros, that leaves plenty of roster space to find new additions and rebuild.

#10: 2 Piece and a Biscuit

Gaby Sanchez, Joey Votto, and Josh Fields have combined for an average of .194, 2 HR's, and 14 RBIs.

Clayton Kershaw has been the best pitcher for 2 Piece so far. Kershaw is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.38 in 3 starts. Homer Bailey is close behind also going 1-0 with an ERA of 1.76. Luke Hochevar is 2-1 carrying an ERA of 3.27, Chuck Lofgren is also 2-1 with an ERA of 3.6, and Jeff Niemann also has an ERA of 3.6, but is 0-1. Philip Hughes struggled in his first two starts but was brilliant in his last start and was rewarded with a call up this week. Hughes is a combined 2-1 with an ERA of 3.96 so far in the minors. Then Carlos Carrasco has had a few issues as well going 1-1 with an ERA of 4.5. Yusmeiro Petit was struggling with an ERA of 5.4, but was still called up and was impressive in his one start so far. Look for him to be sent back down with 3 Diamondback pitchers coming off of the DL in the next few weeks.

This squad has the right names, but they have struggled so far. Due to the lack of balance, this team may want to unload some of the big pitching names soon, to avoid having 10 rookie pitchers next season.

Once again, the rankings are based on a per player basis and use the statistics that the players have turned in so far. Look for an average pre-season rank to come out soon.